This invention relates to article display stands comprising display trays for use with collapsible tray supports.
Of interest are commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,762,207 and 5,620,104 incorporated by reference herein.
Display stands employing corrugated paperboard are in wide use. The stands have numerous configurations established for particular point of sale display of articles. Generally, such stands have a display portion and a support for retaining the display portion upright or inclined in a display orientation. See for example the aforementioned U.S. patents. Stands may have shelves or they may have a display panel from which pegs extend for hanging articles for display. For example, see the aforementioned patents and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,871,608, 4,671,417 and 3,433,365 for peg type displays all incorporated by reference herein.
These displays are counter type units which are relatively small, light and easy to assemble. Other displays are floor mounted and typically have large boxes and the like for supporting a display member. Many are collapsible type displays and require, in some cases, relatively complex assembly of the various components. Because they are generally paperboard, the interconnections of the components tend to be difficult at times and sometimes the connections may become damaged during assembly affecting the connection of the various components. Typically such displays need to be first assembled prior to placement into use at the point of sale location. This can be time consuming for the personnel involved and is not always conducive to proper assembly and thus can lead to an unattractive display.
The present inventor recognizes a need for a point of sale display that can be readily assembled quickly and without possible damage to the interrelated connections. In particular, a need is recognized for a display support that is readily adaptable to conventional displays but needs no mechanical assembly of the components. The support can be readily deployed from a portable configuration to a display configuration with no or a minimum of such component assembly.
A collapsible display stand according to the present invention comprises an article display tray for receiving articles to be displayed; the tray having a bottom wall, a pair of opposing side walls and an end wall forming a display chamber, the bottom wall having spaced slots adjacent to the opposing side walls, the tray further including a front wall spaced from and juxtaposed with the bottom wall, the end wall being coupled to the bottom wall and front wall forming a shelf in the tray chamber.
A collapsible display tray support is included and has a deployed state and a collapsed state, the support including at least one rear wall with opposing first edges, opposing spaced first and second side walls each hinged to the rear wall at a different one of the rear wall opposing first edges, the first and second side walls each having a medial first hinge and a second edge distal the first hinge and distal the at least one rear wall such that the first and second side walls can each selectively collapse against the at least one rear wall.
At least one tab extends from each of the first and second side walls at the second edge thereof the at least one tab being received in a different slot in the tray to releasably secure the support to the tray whereby in the collapsed state the at least one rear wall and the first and second side walls are juxtaposed with at least a portion of the tray bottom wall and in the extended state the tray serves to stiffen the support such that the tray and support cooperate to form a self supporting display stand.
In one embodiment, the support first and second side walls, tabs, at least one rear wall and brace are one piece paperboard and the tray is one piece paperboard.
In a further embodiment, the at least one rear wall comprises two spaced coplanar rear walls and further includes a brace, the brace being secured to one of the two rear walls medially the two rear walls, the brace in the collapsed state being positioned between and coplanar with the two spaced rear walls, the brace, rear walls, first and second side walls and tabs being one piece paper board.
In a further embodiment, the tray side walls, bottom wall and front wall each have a support edge, the support first and second side walls and at least one rear wall each having a further edge that is coplanar with the tray support edges, all the edges lying in and defining a support plane for the tray and support.
Preferably the at least one rear wall comprises two spaced rear walls and a brace member hinged to a first of the rear walls for abutting the tray bottom wall in the extended deployed state.
In a further embodiment, the tabs are hook-shaped. Preferably the tabs are L-shaped, the support rear and side walls each having coplanar edges forming a support edge, the tabs comprising two sets of two tabs in each set, the hooks of each set facing in opposite directions. Also, preferably the slots in the tray have a given length, a first tab of each set being proximal to the support edge, the tabs each having first and second legs, the first leg extending from a corresponding support side wall edge and the second leg extending cantilevered from the first leg parallel to the corresponding side wall edge, the first leg having a transverse width in the direction of the cantilevered second leg, the transverse width being approximately the same value as the length of the mating slot in the tray bottom wall such that the cantilevered second leg must be folded juxtaposed with the first leg for insertion into the mating slot.